Overview

If a political party wishes to nominate candidates for an election, the political party must be registered with the ECQ.

The registration of political parties is governed by the Electoral Act 1992.

The Register of Political Parties is made public by the ECQ and applications to change the register can be found on the Register of Political Parties – Notices page.

Please click on the tabs above to find out about the requirements for registered political parties.

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Associated entities of registered political parties

Under the Local Government Electoral Act 2011, a registered political party and its associated entity are treated as one entity. An associated entity of a registered political party is any entity which:

  • is controlled by a registered party (or candidates endorsed by the party)
  • operates wholly or to a significant extent for the benefit of a registered political party
  • operates for the dominant purpose of promoting a registered political party.

For any gifts or loans made and electoral expenditure incurred, associated entities are required to meet the same real-time and summary return financial disclosure obligations as their party. Electoral expenditure incurred by an associated entity counts towards its party’s expenditure cap.

Associated entities must use the dedicated campaign bank account of their registered political party for a local government election. An associated entity’s record keeping requirements are the same as its party’s.

More information for registered political parties and their associated entities about incurring electoral expenditure, financial disclosure, compliance, and record keeping can be found by using the tabs above. The below fact sheet provides a more detailed funding and disclosure overview for associated entities, as well as information about what is not an associated entity of a registered political party.

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Appointing or changing political party agents

Agents play an important role in elections as they are responsible for ensuring a registered political party’s obligations under the Local Government Electoral Act 2011 (LGEA) are met.

The agent who is appointed under the Electoral Act 1992 will also be the agent for the purposes of the LGEA. This agent is responsible for ensuring an election participant’s compliance obligations under the LGEA are met.

Links to further information:

Forms:

Using a dedicated campaign bank account

Dedicated campaign bank accounts for local government elections are required to ensure transparency of financial transactions, including incurring electoral expenditure.

Registered political parties must establish a dedicated campaign bank account before paying for any electoral expenditure. This account is in addition to the dedicated campaign bank account that each of its candidates must also establish.

Registered political parties must notify the ECQ of their local government campaign bank account details within 5 business days of endorsing a candidate in a local government election.

Registered political parties:

  • may keep the same dedicated campaign bank account for successive local elections but
  • must not use the same bank account for local and state elections.

All electoral expenditure for a local government election must be paid for from the party’s local government campaign account. There are restrictions about how amounts can be paid from the account. The use of a credit card is strictly prohibited.

Any amounts remaining in the account at the end of the election can only be dealt with in certain ways (see fact sheets below).

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Incurring electoral expenditure

The term electoral expenditure has a specific meaning for local government elections – it's incurred for a campaign purpose and can include the cost of expenses like:

  • opinion polling or research
  • advertisements broadcast at a cinema, on radio or television, or on the internet
  • billboards and signs.

This is not an exhaustive list – agents of registered political parties should read the ECQ’s fact sheets and handbook for more detailed information about what is and is not electoral expenditure, as not all campaign expenses will be considered electoral expenditure.

Expenditure caps are limitations on the amount of electoral expenditure that can be incurred during the capped expenditure period for a local government election.

The expenditure cap amount varies across each local government area, and whether the party’s endorsed candidate is contesting a mayoral or councillor position. Registered political parties do not have their own cap amounts for local elections – parties and their endorsed candidates share the same cap amount. The ECQ publishes relevant electoral expenditure cap information for each election on its website.

Each local government election has a capped expenditure period. During this period, a registered political party and its endorsed candidates may only incur electoral expenses up to their capped amount. The capped expenditure period for an election will be published in the notice of expenditure caps for the election.

Video overviews

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Electoral advertising and how-to-vote cards

There are specific requirements for registered political parties, their endorsed candidates and associated entities relating to electoral advertising and election material. Registered political parties and their agents must ensure that they are aware of all regulations relating to:

  • the broadcast and publication of election material
  • the authorisation of election material
  • how-to-vote cards.

How-to-vote cards show how a party wants voters to rank their preferences on their ballot paper when voting for their endorsed candidates in an election. How-to-vote cards have specific requirements under the Local Government Electoral Act 2011 and must be approved by the ECQ before a registered political party or endorsed candidate distributes them during an election period.

Registered political parties must submit their how-to-vote card to the ECQ for approval at least 7 business days before the day cards will be distributed. The ECQ then has up to 5 business days to review the card and provide an acceptance or rejection via email, with accepted cards being displayed on the ECQ’s website. Please be mindful of these timeframes – any printing costs incurred before the ECQ accepts a how-to-vote card will be at a party’s own risk.

More detailed information, including illustrations of acceptable how-to-vote cards, is in the how-to-vote card fact sheet (see link below).

While federal and state elections and referendums have media blackout periods, these do not apply to local government elections in Queensland. The ECQ does not regulate media blackout laws.

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Real-time disclosure requirements

Agents of registered political parties have real-time disclosure requirements to make to the ECQ via the Electronic Disclosure System (EDS).

All electoral expenditure incurred for a local government election must be disclosed once the party’s total expenditure reaches $500. Electoral expenditure returns must be lodged in the EDS within 7 business days, or within 24 hours if the expenditure is incurred within 7 business days before election day.

For information about disclosing gifts and loans received by registered political parties, please refer to the links below.

After an election, agents of registered political parties must also disclose the total value of all the party’s electoral expenditure. More information is available on the Lodging an election summary return tab above.

Failure to disclose electoral expenditure within the time required is an offence under the Local Government Electoral Act 2011.

Video overviews

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Preselection and endorsement of a candidate

A registered political party may endorse a candidate to contest a local government election.

Preselection ballots

Preselection is the process by which a political party chooses a candidate to endorse for a particular election. A preselection ballot is where members of the party vote in a poll for the purposes of preselecting a candidate for endorsement.

A party’s registered officer must give the ECQ written notice at least 7 days before voting starts in a preselection ballot for a local election.  Only parties that use preselection ballots as part, or whole, of their preselection processes need to comply with this requirement .

Notification of endorsement

Regardless of how a candidate is endorsed, the party’s registered officer must notify the ECQ of a candidate’s endorsement within 7 days. Similarly, if a party withdraws a candidate’s endorsement or changes their endorsement, the ECQ must be notified within 7 days.

Links to further information:

Forms:

Nomination of a candidate

The registered officer of a registered political party is responsible for nominating candidates endorsed by their party. Nominations must be accompanied by a nomination deposit.

Nominations must be lodged during the nomination period, which commences when the ECQ publishes the Notice of Election on its website. Nominations close strictly at midday on the last day of the nomination period. Nomination forms received by the ECQ after this time will not be accepted.

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Record keeping

Registered political parties must keep all records relating to an election campaign for 5 years after the day the record is made and parties are subject to audit procedures and compliance activities conducted by the ECQ. There are substantial penalties for not complying with record keeping responsibilities and obligations.

Good record keeping supports full and accurate disclosure. Registered political parties and their agents should:

  • record receipt of gifts and loans as soon as practical so they are not overlooked or forgotten
  • save any paper records electronically to ensure they are not destroyed
  • keep comprehensive records orderly for easy and quick retrieval
  • regularly back-up electronic records
  • ensure record keeping is up to date.

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Lodging an election summary return

Disclosure returns ensure that transfers of money used to support election participants in a local government election are transparent.

In addition to reporting electoral expenditure in real-time, election summary returns are required after a local government election. The election summary return is a summary of the electoral expenditure incurred for an election and it must include a bank statement from the registered political party’s dedicated local campaign account.

Video overviews

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Compliance

Election  participants can read about the ECQ’s Compliance Approach, including the ECQ’s expectations of election participants and commitments to enforcing electoral laws here. To report non-compliance, please check to ensure you are reporting the non-compliance to the correct agency.

The ECQ publishes a range of fact sheets and handbooks for election participants, including registered political parties and their agents. You can use the ECQ website’s information for registered political parties to learn about parties’ obligations under the Local Government Electoral Act 2011. Registered political parties and their agents should also familiarise themselves with the full content of the relevant legislation and seek independent legal advice if required.

Party agents who commit an offence under the Local Government Electoral Act 2011 may be subject to fines or prosecution in court, depending on the seriousness of the offence.

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